Monday 3 January 2011

Why Is Super Skinny Any Better Than Super Fat?

This is a question that constantly bugs me...


The government here in the UK are currently putting so much emphasis on people losing weight and eating healthy foods, yet no-one seems to care that being seriously underweight is no good for you either.


There is quite a fine line between  healthy eating and not eating enough and I feel that putting so much emphasis on one over the other can only be a bad thing.


Being overweight can cause heart problems amongst other problems, but being underweight can lead to the shutting down of your bodily organs or other problems too - yet nobody seems quite so bothered about this - why?


Nowadays, I see a lot of, in particular, teenage girls getting obsessed with being super skinny to be like pop stars, TV stars, models and other celebrities and it is just not healthy.


My younger sister (who is now 17) is a fine example - she was very much overweight and now she has lost a lot of weight - she is now at a healthy weight and is maintaining it, but for a while she was barely eating anything because she still imagining that she was too overweight. I'm glad she came to her senses before it got any more out of control. I'm proud of her that she is maintaining her health, but not getting over the top - but how many teenagers/children are there out there who don't know when to stop?


My son is 8 and he's a perfectly acceptable weight. But if he was overweight, I would go out of my way to help him get healthy and same on the other hand that if he was really underweight, I would also not stop until I knew he was healthy.


I'm just sick of all the bullshit about adults and children being overweight, yet no-one gives a damn if adults or children are underweight.


My son often comes home from school and I feel like he has been brainwashed about healthy eating. He states crisps are bad for him - which as anyone with half a brain cell knows, there are far worse things you can eat - as a snack in moderation, they are fine - as part of a healthy balanced diet, but they brainwash him with so much shit, that he questions all of the food he eats - even though we have large amount of vegetables in our diets and of other things that are good for you. And yes, we do occasionally have chips or pizza or something fried, but there's nothing wrong with that, yet the children seem to be terrified of all foods except fruit and veg - now there is something SERIOUSLY wrong with that if you ask me!


I don't mind the government campaigning to make people healthy, but putting the emphasis solely on being overweight is not right at all. Children should be made aware equally of the problems that can occur from under-eating. Oh, and teachers should be better trained than to scare the living daylights out of children and make them afraid to eat lots of things.




Copyright ©2011-2012 Yvonne Brownsea

9 comments:

  1. I wholeheartedly agree - yes, being overweight can kill - but being underwewight can kill sooner. Those who die of anorexia nervosa are very often in their teens and twenties, young people who ought to have a happy, healthy life ahead of them. The super-skinny culture can only make this problem worse.

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  2. The obsession with being thin irritates me, my daughter is tiny and I worry when she get's a bee in her bonnet to lose more weight.

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  3. Totally agree its a crying shame that many teen girls and increasingly teen boys are looking at even a size 10 being overweight. I was shocked to see Spanx those tummpy shape pants in Marks and Spencers in a size 8!!!

    We need to look at the mixed messages that are being sent out and target healthy nutrition and stop with the obsession with weight.
    Thanks for some great thoughts

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  4. i think being too skiny is worse than being overweight. i think these models and there size zero have taken it too far and making our kids obsess over their weight when they should love the curves lol xxx

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  5. Its shocking I agree, my daughters Primary school had an amnesty recently and if the children had more that one 'unhealthy' item in their lunch box they confiscated and wouldnt let them eat it!!

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  6. Yes, I totally agree that the issues surrounding being underweight are neglected. Buliema comes with several major issues - straining of heart muscles due to vomiting (my friend, who did a PhD in eating disorders, met a lot of young women needing heart transplants); amenorrhoea and teeth damage due to acid from vomiting eroding teeth.

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  7. totally agree with everything you have said - why do people seem to think being super skinny is so much better than being overweight?! @ashlallan

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  8. I don't get this thing with primary schools dictating what a child can and can't have in their lunch box, as a kid I had a sandwich a chocolate biscuit and a packet of crips and an apple and I was a perfectly happy weight, my sons school won't even give them juice with their lunch water only. It also doesn't help when trendy clothes shop stock size 4 but think a size 14 is too big, ridiculous!

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  9. It's because a over weight person is gross your skin and body parts are stretched by all your weight it's not normal its repulsive that you couldn't understand a simple portion size. Some people go to skinny I agree but the reason schools and stuff push heallthy eating is because were all geting alot bigger.

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